Xaphoon XAPH Maui Pocket Saxophone, Black

Nice sound

I didn't originally intend to buy this instrument. I purchased a Nuvo Jsax from Amazon on 6th December and it still hasn't arrived yet, so I decided to buy one of these as well so I've got something portable to take away with me over Christmas in case the Jsax doesn't arrive for a while. I used to play saxophone, clarinet and flute to intermediate standard but no longer own a sax or a clarinet. I was missing them, and thought this instrument would be a suitable, cheaper alternative as it sounds like a cross between the two instruments, is lightweight and portable, and would be fun to play once I'd got the hang of it. Not so! I found it relatively easy to sound all the notes on the first octave (I haven't tried the second octave yet) but the fingering is hellish. In order to get a good sound you do have to properly cover all the sound holes, which is very difficult to do when the fingering jumps so much from one note to the next, and the finger spacing isn't particularly comfortable. For 'C' you only cover one hole at the top and one hole at the bottom of the instrument. For 'B', from the top, it's cover the top hole, open the next, cover the next three, leave two open and then cover the bottom one. For 'A' you cover the top three holes, leave the next four open, then cover the bottom one. It then gets a whole lot more complicated when you add in the sharps and flats and go up an octave. For me, unlike both the saxophone and the clarinet, nothing about this instrument is intuitive. I thought that it wouldn't take me that long to master it but, given the fingering, it feels like it could take an eternity. Saxophones and clarinets are easy peasy by comparison. With regard to producing a sound, that seems to be a matter of trial and error. As my embouchure has seriously deteriorated since last playing the sax/clarinet I decided to order some strength 2 Rico tenor reeds as it stated that the reed supplied with the instrument is a 2.5. I personally don't think that's a good choice to include with the instrument as many people who have never played a reed instrument before will seriously struggle with a 2.5, and would be much better with a 1.5. The mouthpiece is quite deep compared to other single reed instruments and does take a bit of getting used to. You also have to put a lot more of it in your mouth to produce a sound, and there is a fine line between enough and too much, in which case you just produce an unpleasant squeak. I think the xaphoon is probably best suited to someone who plays or has played both a reed instrument AND an instrument with open holes or someone who is happy to put in the time learning a complex fingering system from the very beginning. I can only hope that I do manage to find a Jsax before Christmas because I definitely won't be mastering this instrument that quickly! With regard to the three stars scoring, it gets four stars for sound but only one star for fingering so averages out at two and a half... I've been generous... UPDATE - Sunday 17 Dec 2017 - I decided that this instrument would never be as easy to play as I would like, however much I practise. Consequently, I am returning it and have purchased a Nuvo DooD instead (£55 cheaper) which is way easier to play. It has sensible, intuitive, simple fingering that makes perfect sense to me - and blowing is easier too! I plan to have lots of fun with it over Christmas and will be giving it a glowing review!

Seriously overpriced for what it is (i.e. a small plastic instrument in a cheap-looking cardboard box). Not something you can practise on without annoying anyone around as it's very loud. Difficult to get the hang of for a beginner. If you haven't played a wind instrument before and this looks interesting (as it did to me) I would really recommend trying something else (maybe an alto recorder).

Came poorly packaged with no paperwork at all or spare reed.!! Had to go online for fingering diagram as it totally different from a saxophone or flute. This was a present for my partner and I bought the supposedly best (and most expensive) on the market. It felt like a cheap product. I almost wish I'd bought a cheaper one now. It sounds fine but can't comment if it's better than one of its competitors at a third of the price.!!!

The original.. very fast shipping even to the other side of the world..

Nice product as descriped.

More practice makes perfect. Solid and well made. I hope the more I practice the better I'll get

This little insrument is capable of producing some nice sounds. But in two months of practice I could not get used to the eccentric finger positions. I could play a lot of tunes but my fingers ached at the end of a session. It was not fun, so I gave up and bought a Jsax. I am an experienced woodwind player and have a variety of plastic instruments. But none of them is as easy to play as my clarinet and alto sax. The plastic instruments - such as the Jsax, Venova and Clarineo - are used for fun and because they require little maintenance.

Instrument à découvrir, transportable au son puissant pour sa taille. La justesse peut, comme un sax soprano, être dure à trouver. Très amusant. La livraison s'est faite très rapidement (1 semaine), malgré sa provenance éloignée.

Brilliant invention. Very high-quality product. Made in USA.

This is a beautiful instrument. It came in great condition for being used, exactly as described. It is very fun to play. The mouthpiece takes some practice to get a good sound, but it is fine once you get used to it. I would really recommend this to anyone who would like to try a new, affordable instrument.

Update: I've had my Xaphoon for 2 months now. Still love it. Just finished my quest for the perfect reed. I started with 2 1/2 strength cane reeds. The good ones sounded great, but...2 out of 4 were not so so good. I think a lot of the fun of this instrument is being able to just pick it up and play. With the cane reeds, there is a lot of taking the reed of and on to wet it to play and dry it after playing. Plus they don't last very long and you have to buy a bunch to find some good ones. So I thought a synthetic read would be the ticket. I got a Fibercell 1 1/2 strength. I went to the 1 1/2 since the 2 1/2 takes work and some facial muscles to play I thought why not go softer ? That turned out to be a mistake. The sound became very kazoo like and it was impossible to get the high notes. So then I ordered a Fibercell 2 1/2. They sent an Alto reed, I returned it and they replaced it with...another Alto reed. After the second try Amazon gave me a credit and I bought a Bari soft.reed. Turns out this is the end of my quest. The Bari plays great. I think it is a little easier to play than a 2 1/2 cane reed, sounds really good, and it's very easy to get the highest notes. And I can leave it in place. And it will last a long time. I am now one happy Xaphoonist. I love my Xaphoon. I have had it a little more than 2 weeks and was able to play a scale (with help from the book) the first time I picked it up. Since then I have been learning the fingering for flats and sharps, which is odd in places, and have also made strides in getting a good tone. I played clarinet long ago so knew how the reed works but it probably helped that I haven't played lately so I did not try to use the mouthpiece the way you would with a clarinet or sax. It is definitely different. The sound is amazing for the size of the thing which I attribute to the big reed and the shape of the mouthpiece. DO NOT leave the reed in place between sessions. I started out doing that so that I could just pick it up and play. When I did take it off there was stuff starting to grow on the back of the reed. Ewww. After looking up some information on how to take care of the reed I have started taking it off and dipping it in a small jar of 50% peroxide and water after playing. I also play guitar and figured out that I can clip my "Snark" at the bottom of the barrel to check the pitch when I am playing so that I get used to playing in key. The pitch can change pretty easily by mouth and air pressure which is great for vibrato and bending notes but playing with others will require I can stay on pitch most of the time. This is definitely a real musical instrument that requires patience and practice like any other instrument. I think the negative reviews come from folks who thought they would be able to just pick it up and jam and are disappointed that there is work involved.

サックスを少しだけ経験していたので、リードの音はすぐ出せたのですが、実際の演奏になると練習が必要で少しだけ難しいですね。でも、その「少しだけ難しい」というのはちょうどいい感じです。 リードなので、口使いが難しいのは承知してたのですが、指使いが意外と難しかったです。リコーダーのようなものと思ってましたが、穴の位置が決して掴みやすいところにあるわけでないので、油断すると隙間ができてしまったりと、結構練習が必要になります。 音は小さいクラリネットやサックスのような感じで心地いいです。 もっと練習してい思い通りに吹けるようになれたらなと思います。